Interim Wellesley Middle School principal Jamie Chisum has announced that the pool of candidates to take on the job permanently has been narrowed down to two:

*Mark Ito is currently in his third year as chair of the Wellesley Middle School English Department. Ito has been an English teacher at the Wellesley Middle School for eight years. Prior to this, he worked as an executive in corporate technology as a business strategist and in marketing.

*Peter Cohen is currently in his sixth year as principal of the Stony Brook Middle School in Westford, Mass. Prior to this, Cohen was a middle school social studies teacher in Lexington for 10 years.

Cohen makes the rounds with staff, School Committee members, students, parents, etc. on Monday, while Ito does the same Tuesday. A final decision — the first big one for newly hired school superintendent David Lussier — is expected by the end of next week.